Questions tagged [understanding]
The understanding tag has no usage guidance.
93
questions
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2answers
72 views
Is dropping the word “University” standard in all variants of English?
I came across the following conversation.
Person 1: Which school are you attending?
Person 2: Georgetown
Why do people drop the word "university" here? Is it obvious for native speakers? Won'...
0
votes
1answer
36 views
understanding house sister
what "esteemed house sister" means in the sentence?
Alice. In my short time as your head of dorm. I and Mia, your esteemed house sister.
The passage's from That Face (Play)
0
votes
1answer
15 views
Understanding edges past the body
What is "He edges past the body" means in the last paragraph?
The living room. Alice hangs in the open doorway to the bedroom. Billy sits at the table with his
back to her. Screwed papers on ...
0
votes
2answers
20 views
Understanding been up half the night lying in wait for her
I'm having trouble understanding of this passage from The Ferryman (Jez Butterworth) What is the meaning of:"been up half the night lying in wait for her"?
UNCLE PAT. She’s been up half the ...
1
vote
1answer
21 views
Understanding separate parts of passage from The Ferryman
I'm having trouble understanding of the separate parts of passage from The Ferryman (Jez Butterworth) What are the meanings of these sentences according to the passages: "spread-eagled round the ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views
Understanding sentences from The Ferryman
I'm having trouble understanding of this passage from The Ferryman (Jez Butterworth) What are the meanings of these sentences according to the passage: "get a bead on", "I’m a ways past ...
0
votes
1answer
27 views
What is the meaning of “in the long daisies”? [closed]
What "the long daisies" mean in the passage? The passage is from The Ferryman (Jez Butterworth)
AUNT MAGGIE. No, I’ll answer. The truth, girls. The truth is… I loved a
man who loved another. He ...
0
votes
1answer
24 views
Understanding word in the college is 1987
The Passage is from Jez Butterworth's Jerusalem. what is this line: "Word in the college is 1987 is going to be worse." means? Also, who is Maureen Pringle?
PROFESSOR: A DJ, eh?
GINGER: That’s right,...
2
votes
2answers
56 views
I don't understand that sentence, even though I know conditionals well
"If David didn't give up smoking, Liza wouldn't marry him."
I only can see that sentence in the 3rd conditional (unreal past) - "If David hadn't given up smoking, Liza wouldn't have married him". But ...
1
vote
1answer
79 views
What do draft and swine mean?
the passage's from Frankenstein play. it's a part of the opening song. What do draft and swine mean?
Come gather ye
feast on our Empire's riches
New heaven on Earth
shall to all ages rise
Those ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
What does “if the children breed with the children” mean?
It's from a play based on Mary Shelley's novel.
What does "if the children breed with the children" mean?
Victor: I don’t know. I have travelled where no man has travelled. I wonder
how far I can go....
0
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2answers
52 views
What does Meat for the dogs mean?
What does Meat for the dogs mean?
it's from a play called Frankenstein
Victor: I shall need a steady supply of internal organs.
Ewan: Very good, sir.
Rab: Organs!
Ewan: Quiet, Rab. Meat for the dogs....
1
vote
2answers
45 views
The understood subject of “instructing.”
I have read from a previous post:
What part of speech is "instructing ..." here?
1.The editor at once sent the journalist a telegram instructing him to find out the exact number of steps ...
0
votes
2answers
110 views
Does ''Blurt out'' mean to say something unintentional?
Like to say something bad,offensive,embarrassing,etc to somebody you didn't you mean to say
0
votes
0answers
22 views
Understanding “Cracker”
What does "cracker" mean in these passages from The Ferryman by Jez Butterworth:
1:
QUINN. Where’s Michael?
CAITLIN. Flat on his cracker in bed.
2:
MICHAEL. Morning, Tom Kettle. Where’s m’da?
...
2
votes
1answer
61 views
Understanding “pallias”
What does "pallias" mean in the passage:
UNCLE PAT. Cow Gum! Now there’s a scent to stir the soul. September,
nineteen hundred and eleven… I was seven years old. Pat, Maggie,
Arthur, Frank and me, ...
0
votes
1answer
32 views
Sentence Understanding : “at certain phases of the moon”
What "at certain phases of the moon" Means, is this a slang:
Jesus: The whole point of going into the desert is not eating bread. If I wanted bread I'd go to a shop. As for throwing yourself off a ...
2
votes
1answer
69 views
“He couldn’t hear her voice above the noise.”, Someone help me understand this sentence
So in this sentence "He couldn’t hear her voice above the noise.", does "above the noise" describe "her voice"? if so, how come "he couldn't hear her voice".
Shouldn't he be able to hear the voice ...
0
votes
3answers
50 views
Usage/understanding of “holding it all”?
In the Off Camera Show (timestamp), Brit Marling says today many people take many photos a day as a way to say
I'm here, I'm alive and I'm holding it all.
Is this a way to express someone has ...
0
votes
1answer
23 views
Understanding Last lot & New lot
What does "Under the last lot. Under the new lot" mean in this passage:
Paul: Have you ever seen me cry? Do I look like a man who cries? Has
there ever been a day … ? Christ, we’ve known each ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Do I understand the tense forms correctly?
I made the following sentences up by myself and I would like to know if they are grammatically correct.
Past Continuous:
“I was searching for a job in the newspaper when I got a phone call.”
or ...
0
votes
1answer
14 views
Understanding a line through a passage
What this line means: That’s what I always you see?
(Edward canes Anna once)
Edward: One. That’s what I always you see? I think it’s fairer you see to
count aloud. So that the boy knows ...
1
vote
2answers
28 views
sentence fragment to be improved
I ask the following as a non-native English speaker.
In this question, I have trouble understanding how does "accompany me to my office" connect to anything else in the sentence.
Original sentence:
...
2
votes
3answers
72 views
“you can” vs “you cannot” How to understanding? What is difference?
When I try accept my answer, I seen a prompt:
You can accept your own answer in 2 days
This sentence make sense to me as miswritten for:
You cannot accept your own answer in 2 days
I post ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views
Which type of coin is which?
The type of the receiving coin, upon which another set of dies are
struck, is referred to as "undertype", while the type being struck
over it is called an "overtype". (Source)
Am I understanding ...
0
votes
2answers
81 views
How to quickly understand mutliple continuous parenthetical phrases?
The problem comes when I try to understand (multiple) continuous parentheses, for example:
Summary of text leading up to this: someone purpose to eliminate 13 majors about humanities since they are ...
1
vote
2answers
49 views
a means to the end of
There is a misconception held by some that Stoics have no interest in
worldly goods and pleasures. This is not correct, as previously
stated. The acceptance of a period of discomfort, similarly, ...
0
votes
1answer
54 views
Meaning of “very confined"
What does "Very confined” mean in this short news update?
Shortly after news of the fire broke, Trump, who was in Washington,
tweeted: “Fire at Trump Tower is out. Very confined (well built
...
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Expression UK radio hosts and MCs use to shout out to friends/fans
I notice this mainly in drum 'n' bass/grime/dubstep radio shows from UK where an MC or the host frequently talks over the tune. Similar to terms like 'shout out to xxx' or 'big up xxx', where xxx ...
0
votes
1answer
31 views
meaning of “grounds on”
This is one of the answer choices given in LSAT exam.
The music critic challenges the grounds on which the music professor
generalizes from the particular context of rap music to the broader
...
0
votes
2answers
109 views
“This” modifier
Biologists have found that all tadpoles of that species begin life as
omnivores, feeding mainly on organic debris in their soon-to-be-dry
pool in the desert, but that occasionally one tadpole eats ...
1
vote
2answers
38 views
“Unwelcome liberty”, “taken with”
His works were praised by many literary critics as fresh, inventive
approaches to the form of the novel. Others, however, dismissed his
works as simple retelling of local tales, full of unwelcome ...
0
votes
1answer
43 views
What's the exact meaning of "a role dispatched with some…and so on
Could ypu please explain and paraphrase the last part of the sentence.
The whole sentence: "Colin Firth gives a warm and sympathetic performance as Bertie, the Duke Of York, an introverted and ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
“purely out of”
Some consumers will not continue to patronize a company purely out of
brand loyalty.
I have two interpretation for this sentence.
consumers does not go to the company because it is completely ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
as being arbitrary
Many people object to mandatory retirement at age 65 as being
arbitrary, arguing that people over 65 make useful contributions.
However, if those who reach 65 are permitted to continue working
...
1
vote
1answer
455 views
Is “can be viewed using many different devices” correct? Is it missing a word?
Web pages can be viewed using many different devices: desktops, tablets, and phones.
I don't understand "viewed using" section. I think it miss a certain word.
0
votes
2answers
125 views
Passage understanding
There is a passage that I cannot understand. It is from one of the LSAT prep tests.
Superconductors are substances that conduct electricity without
resistance at low temperatures. Their use, ...
0
votes
1answer
25 views
poem to someone
Even in a laudatory poem to famous Chinese poet Li Po, which partly
serves to place Lum's work within a distinguished literary tradition,
Lum refuses to offer a stereotypical nostalgia for the ...
3
votes
3answers
169 views
Is my interpretation of this paragraph from a horror short story by Arthur C. Doyle right?
I'm reading Arthur Conan Doyle's LOT NO. 249, and I'm having some troubles understanding the first paragraph.
Of the dealings of Edward Bellingham with William Monkhouse Lee, and of the cause of ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
Why do people use phrases like “scan to” and “scan into”?
Source
Scan anything into a PDF using your mobile device.
Adobe Scan app, scan documents to PDF.
Scan to PDF, convert JPEG or TIFF to PDF.
Why one should say phrases like scan into PDF ...
0
votes
1answer
37 views
What's the difference between the usage of different and other in these contexts?
Source
The journey is called off, replanned for some other time.
Source:A School Prospectus
The school has well equipped computer labs. The students use the facilities to develop ...
0
votes
1answer
346 views
Using “ponder” as an intransitive verb?
In one my novels, a separate section is given as Points to Ponder Over. However, no phrasal verb as such (ponder over) really exists. By Oxford dictionary, ponder is a transitive verb. So it cannot be ...
1
vote
2answers
89 views
Can you explain about the constructions of the type “verb+noun+another verb”?
I have seen constructions like:
The number of electrons present inside the metal is large.
In the given case, the noun electrons is directly followed by the verb present.
It could also be written ...
0
votes
1answer
93 views
What can the phrase “form of life” mean?
Source
In cricket, most commentators use the phrase form of (his/her) life for describing players which are in form and doing good.
Source
In this source, a player has been called in the form of ...
0
votes
2answers
42 views
Why use “has” directly with an object in these types of contexts?
Source
Some of the oil has washed up on a neighboring island.
The bold part of the above sentence seems odd to me. It appears like oil is doing the process of washing up. For eg, when we say:
...
1
vote
1answer
4k views
How to tell someone “you don't understand my mean” politely in English?
When does someone not understand my mean, how can tell I it politely?
1
vote
1answer
100 views
How to easily read not simple English? [closed]
I am an intermediate level English learner and I wish to be fluent in English in order to be able to easily read academic subjects, books, novels, and researches written in not simple English, so I ...
0
votes
2answers
86 views
Sentence meaning in context
The reasoning in the argument is most vulnerable to criticism on the
grounds that the argument
A)_____ B)_____ C)_____
For me, it sounds like most should be eliminated in order for the ...
0
votes
1answer
86 views
meaning of “putative connection” [closed]
This year, the American Association chose as the theme for its annual
conference some putative connection to storytelling: "Practices of
Historical Narrative.
I am not sure whether I am ...
0
votes
2answers
48 views
Circular Permutation Confusion
A question in my mathematics homework is as follows:
Find the number of ways in which seven men can sit at a round table so that all shall not have the same neighbors in any two arrangements.
My ...
